Florida is famous for being a paradise for people of very diverse ages and interests. It’s the amusement park capital of the country. It’s got the beaches and nightlife that young adults love. It’s full of natural beauty for those who like to enjoy the quiet life. It’s got great weather. It’s got a booming economy. It’s got great food. And, of course, it has plenty of golf courses. For the most part, all of these interests coexist peacefully in one large state, but that doesn’t mean we couldn’t be better at paying attention to some of the issues that come from providing paradise to so many people.

One area that really doesn’t get enough discussion is the golf cart. That may seem like an absurd topic, but as Glover Law Firm has detailed in several of their recent blog posts, it’s a fairly serious issue with some serious consequences.

Glover Law Firm has documented that there is a lot that can go wrong with a golf cart, and when it goes wrong, serious injuries are very possible. Some golf carts simply malfunction, leaving those on the cart and others on the road in serious risk of injuries. There obviously needs to be more regulation over who can modify golf carts and how they modify them.

Even more important, though, we need to make sure people in golf carts know the law and know how and where to drive their golf carts.
The golf cart can seem like a harmless vehicle that doesn’t reach speeds or have the ability to do much harm at all, but the reality is that golf cart accidents can be very serious and cause severe injuries. Many people therefore misjudge how they should behave in their golf cart. It can lead to people driving on main roads as if their golf cart is a normal vehicle. It can also lead to people driving recklessly because they don’t think they can hurt anyone with a little old golf cart.

We need to do a better job educating people who drive golf carts about the risks and requirements for that vehicle. For instance, Glover Law Firm points out that golf carts aren’t allowed on roads that aren’t specifically designated for golf cart use. A lack of knowledge about this can lead to many accidents with larger vehicles. Similarly, though golf carts are lighter and can’t reach extremely high speeds, you still aren’t allowed to drive a golf cart while intoxicated or texting. Finally, as with all vehicles, more injuries could be avoided if golf cart drivers and passengers took commonsense safety measures like wearing their seatbelts and keeping their carts maintained.

Just making sure everyone who uses a golf cart understands these basic requirements would do a lot to help Floridians continue to live safely and happily together, whether they’re off to work, off to the beach, or off to the golf course.